Despite an interesting premise and plenty of gross-out moments, 'Tusk' never quite fulfils its own potential.
The idea for Kevin Smith's new horror movie Tusk starring Justin Long was born from a podcast and most critics agree that it should have remained in its infancy. Long plays a podcast who is targeted by a sadistic killer while attempting to land an interview with a misanthropic adventurer - an original idea for sure, but Tusk never fulfils its potential.
"There's too much forced winking in it; everything is a goof, a lark, a Smith-style in-joke for the in-crowd," said Stephanie Zacharek of Village Voice.
"There's a fine horror film inside "Tusk," but it's only 20 minutes long. The rest is just blubber," wrote Kyle Smith of the New York Post.
"It's as self-referential as any of the exuberant director's duds, but it's refreshingly self-deprecating too," wrote Henry Barnes of the Guardian.
"It suggests the worst possible gene splice of a barbed Terrance and Phillip South Park appearance, Fargo's blithe condescension, and the smuggest of Quentin Tarantino pastiches," said Ed Gonzelez of Slant magazine.
"It's not even that the film shifts wildly in tone as much as the fact that none of those tones work at all: the horror parts aren't scary and, surprisingly for Smith, the comedy bits aren't funny," said Alonso Duralde of The Wrap.
For an actor best known for Dodgeball and New Girl, doing a movie about a man who wants to turn another into a walrus probably wasn't high on Justin Long's wish-list.
"My agents definitely didn't want me to do it," Long told Bloody Digusting, "I was intrigued by the prospect of getting to do those scenes with Michael [Parks], and by the challenge of that completed transformation. I needed to challenge myself. It was scary - it wasn't like a no-brainer, but I knew I was going to do it because I was a big fan of Kevin's. It was because of my fear [of the role] that I had to do it."
Tusk is out in cinemas on Friday (September 19, 2014).
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